Who is this program for?

Have you received many Vajrayāna empowerments but have not been equipped with the understanding of how to pursue what you’ve been authorized to practice? Are you longing for authentic and sustained guidance geared toward progress? Is the wish to dive deeper pulsing within you, but you have not been able to create the space for personal retreats?

This year-long program is tailored for dedicated practitioners who have completed their preliminary practices (ngöndro) in any lineage or tradition and wish to continue training in the gradual path through the phases of creation in accordance with the teachings of the Nyingma School.

The program will offer a learning environment in which deity practice will be explained and contemplated within the larger framework of the gradual path. Knowledge will bring confidence that will bridge practical steps and structure from daily practice to short and long-term personal retreats. It is made to work with your life, to carve out a space each month to clarify, integrate, and anchor practice as the breathing fabric of your being.

What will you learn?

The Phase of Creation introduces methods to purify body, speech, and mind by means of deity visualization, mantra recitation, connecting to wisdom essence, and transforming ordinary perceptions into enlightened phenomena. Although there are many different schools and presentations of deity practice, this teaching will be based on the traditions of Düdjom Tersar.

You will become rooted in the understanding of what distinguishes the Creation Phase as a unique construction within the development of Vajrayana practice. You will be guided through the details of the textual and ritual structure of the Sādhana form. Interwoven with information as well as invitation, this course will be an offering of essential instruction as well as a space for dialogue. We will close with an outline and exploration of how to confidently stabilize space and support for a closed personal retreat.

Program Structure:

In this year-long online program, there will be:

• One three-hour-long teaching session each month

• Access to the recordings

• An interactive weekly forum throughout the duration of the program

• Two one-on-one interviews, preliminary and completion, with Drubpon Pema Rigdzin

• A specialized bibliography.

Program Objectives:

Historical Grounding:

• Understanding the principles and practices that distinguish the gradual path

• The series of tantras and sadhanas (Gyüdé and Drubdé): a historical perspective.

Entering the Maṇḍala:

• The essential role of empowerment.

Sādhana Structure:

• Develop an understanding of the nature and structure of sādhana and how to apply it

Approach, Accomplishment, and Engagement in Activities:

• The heart of creation stage and mantra recitation

Stabilizing a space for practice:

• Planning a retreat: The rules.

• Structuring a retreat: Making it work.

Prerequisites:

• Completed any Ngöndro accumulations in any tradition

• Received at least one Mahāyoga empowerment within the Nyingma School.

The program will begin on February 28, 2026.